Firms must 'excite' staff to encourage behaviour change

Businesses must drive the correct messages on the benefits of energy efficiency to encourage employee engagement and behavioural change, says Costa's energy and environment manager.

From a 2009 baseline, Costa has managed 15% carbon reductions

Employees have different "triggers that motivate them to be more energy efficient at work", said Costa's Oliver Rosevear.

He added that to get a workforce excited about energy efficiency the business must provide the right messages or incentives to ensure employees take on energy efficient measures at work as well as at home.

"For some employees it might be the effect on the company's profits, especially if their bonus depends on it. Or it might be that they feel it is purely the right thing to do.

"It's trying to find those right messages that can be used by the people pushing the initiatives to get those people engaged for the right reasons".

From a 2009 baseline, Costa has managed 15% carbon reductions, relative to sales revenue, through its energy efficient measures and engaging with its growing workforce.

However, Costa recently decided to bring forward its 25% 2020 target to 2017, on the back of its carbon reductions over the last three years and success with its employee engagement programme.

"It is about trying to find the right programmes that work within that remit and getting people as passionate about corporate responsibility and energy efficiency as they are about coffee," said Rosevear.